NASASV Budget Response Media Release

National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence (NASASV) is the peak body for specialist organisations who provide prevention and response services to people who are at risk of, or who have experienced sexual violence.

NASASV has released a statement welcoming the Federal Government’s budget initiatives to prevent and respond to sexual violence – but says sexual assault victims will continue to face lengthy waiting times for counselling and lack of access to specialist sexual assault services in some parts of Australia.

Chair of the National Association of Services against Sexual Violence, Jo Sheehan-Paterson, revealed many specialist sexual assault services are stretched to the limit, have waiting periods of
several months and need to limit the number of counselling sessions that they can provide in order
to meet the demands of constant new referrals.

NASASV is calling for the Federal Government to commit to:

  1. Dedicated funding for Sexual Violence Services to enable the provision of consistent high quality
    service responses across Australia incorporating specialist counselling and forensic care for victims,
    programs to respond to harmful sexual behaviours and dedicated Prevention funding for sexual
    violence services
  2. Increased resourcing so every school can employ a Respectful Relationship Coordinator
  3. Resourcing to enable NASASV to provide ongoing expert consultation to:
    – Support the government’s response to current and emerging sexual violence issues
    – Provide best practice guidance to sexual violence and other services to build their capacity
    to respond to victim survivors of sexual violence